Method of presenting yarn



March 8, 1938.

J. L. GETAZ METHOD OF PRESENTING YARN Filed Sept. 5, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR JAMES L. GETAZ BY HIS ATTORNEYS rlllltlll 1|...

March 8, 1938. J GETAZ 2,110,795

METHOD OF PRESENTING YARN Filed Sept. 5, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet. 2

INVENTOIR 4 JAMES 1.. {GETAZ BY HIS ATTORNEYS Patented 8, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 16 Claims.

This invention relates to circular knitting machines and more particularly tomethods of presenting yarns to the'needles of such machines and it is an object of this invention to provide an improved method of presentinga yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine in which the cutter and clamp mechanism for the yarn is outside the needle circle.

In the drawings:

Fig.1 is a diagrammatic plan view with the needles spaced wide apart, showing the relation to the needle circlethroat plate and cutter and clamp mechanism of the yarn finger in the various positions takenin accordance with my invention;

Figs. 2 and 3 are developed views in elevation of the needles, cutter and clamp mechanism and yarn finger, Fig. 2 showing the parts just prior to the time the yarn is withdrawn from the cut- 20 ter and clamp mechanism, the yarn finger being in the solid line position of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 showing the parts with the yarn finger moved back from its position II in Fig. 2 to the position 111 in which it feeds yarn to the needles after 25 the yarn has been interlaced with a number of the needles;

Figs. 4. 5 and-6 ar'e views similar to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, respectively, showing the needles. yarn finger and clamp mechanism arranged for pre- 30 senting the yarn to the needles in a modified manner; Figs. 4 and 5 showing a plurality of yarn fingers so manipulated, one finger of Fig. 5 in interlacing position II of Fig. 4, and two fingers in idle position I; while Fig. 6 shows its one finger in feeding position III; i

Fig. 7' is a developed view in elevation of the needles, yarn finger and clamp of Fig. 5, with the needles manipulated so that the finger in interlacing position II is feeding to all the needles;

:40 While Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic plan view similar to- Fig. 1. showing a further modification by which the idle position I is used for i'eedingthe yarn to all the needles. 45 In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawings there is indicated the cylinder needles N which pass the v M usual throat plate III, a cutter and clamp mechanism l2 and a yarn finger i4 mounted for pivotal movement in an inclined plane outside the 5 needle circle at a point in advance of the throat plate, the various parts being operated by suitable operating mechanism, not shown. As shown by the curved arrow, the needles are considered to travel in a counter-clockwise direction and 55 theyarn finger l gand clamp mechanism I2 are positioned to present the yarn to the needles before the needles pass the throat plate "I and the usual knitting cams (not shown).

When the yarn or thread T is not being fed to the needles its end is held by the cutter and clamp mechanism I2 and the yarn finger I4 is held away from the needles in the dotted line position I. To introduce the yarn or thread to the needles the yarn finger I4 is moved to the full line position 11. In this position the yarn 10 finger HI and the cutter and clamp mechanism II are so disposed relatively tothe needles that the section of thread T extending between theyarn I finger M and the clamp I2 bears against the needles N. As the yarn finger I4 is moved to position II, or shortly before this operation of r the yarn finger, selected needles are raised prior to passing the yarn finger i4 and in advance of the raising of the remaining needles and the thread T bears against the raised needles below the latches thereof but lies above the hooks of the remaining needles which have not been raised. The needles which are not raised before passing the yarn finger M are raised shortly after they pass the yarn finger and as these needles are raised the curvature of the tops of their hooks causes these needles to come in front of the thread T, thus interlacing the thread with a number of the needles and putting sufficient drag or friction on the thread to cause the thread to travel with the needles to the usual knitting wave at the throat plate. The first of the needles raised in front of the thread will cause the thread to be looped thereabout as the needle passes the clamp mechanism and tobe withdrawn from the clamp mechanism. It pre ferred, suitable means may be, provided for operating the clamp mechanism at this time.

After the thread has been interlaced with a number of the needles during part of one revolution, the yarn finger I4 is rotated outwardly and upwardly from the full line position II to the dotted line position III which causes the thread tobe tangent to the needle circle at a point at which all the needles are raised above the thread so that the thread is no longer interlaced with the needles but bears against the needle latches m a position to be taken into the hooks of the needles at the knitting wave (Fig. 3). The yarn finger is thereafter kept in position III until the thread is withdrawn from the needles. While the yarn finger is kept in position III the selec-' tion of needles prior to the yarn finger may be discontinued if desired. When it is desired to withdraw the yarn from the needles the yarn finger is moved outwardly and upwardly to position I and the yarn engaged with the cutter and clamp mechanism which is operated by suitable mechanism in the usual manner.

In Figs. 4, and 6 of the drawings there is shown the needle N, throat plate l0, cutter and clamp mechanism l2 for the thread .'I and a yarn finger M for the yarn T, the yarn finger being mounted for pivotal movement in a horizontal plane and the yarn finger and clamp being placed at an elevation such that when the yarn finger is swung for the position I, in which the yarn is withdrawn from the needles, to the posi- I tion It, the yarn engages the needles raised in advance of the yarn finger H as in the prior modification, just below the hooks of the needles as shown in Fig. 5. While in engagement with the needles, the yarnT is back far enough to permit the needles which are raised subsequent to passing the yarn finger being raised in front of the yarn'so that the yarn is interlaced with the needles.

The interlacing of the yarn continues for a number of needles in the first revolution and the yarn finger is then moved outwardly in a horizontal plane to a position III in which the yarn extending from the yarn finger Ha to the needles is tangent to the needle circle at a point at which all needles are raised, so the yarn is fed to the hooks of all the needles. The yarn finger I4 is maintained in position III continuously thereafter while the yarn is being fed and for the withdrawal of the yarn from the needles the yarn finger i4"- is moved to position I which places the yarn in the cutter and clamp mechanism l2, the cutter and clamp mechanism being operated in the usual manner.

In place of shifting the yarn finger H from position 11 towposition III after the yarn T has been interlaced with the needles the yarn finger can be left in position II and all needles raised in advance of the yarn finger as shown in Fig. 7. This will cause the yarn to be fed to the hooks of all the needles and accomplish the same result as the shifting of the yarn finger, Thus in the manipulations .set forth in Fig. 7, only two positions of the yarn finger are required, in contrast to the three positions of Figs. 1 to 6.

Another manner of manipulation 'which requires only two positions for the yarn finger is that shown. in Fig. 8. In this manipulation the position in which the yarn finger I4 is feeding to all the needles is the same as the idle position I. In the drawings the positions are marked II- for the interlacing or starting position and I for the idle and operating position. In this manipulation the relations of the cutter and clamp l2 and the yarn finger and needle circle are such that the yarn going from the finger to the needles passes through the cutter and clamp. The

cutter and clamp are kept open when it is desired to feed the yarn and operated when it is time,to stop feeding the yarn. It is sometimes preferable to give the yarn orifice of the yarn finger a bell mouth I5 as shown in this figure.

This invention is useful in making various types of hosiery. Thus for example it can be availed of to. advantage in carrying out the method of my Patent No. 2,054,217, dated September 15, 1936, for making a selvage on the bare needles. Another situation where the present invention would be useful is when it is desired to make horizontal stripes by yarn change on a machine in which the room for a cutter and clamp inside the needle circle is very limited.

Referring first to the use of the present invention in connection with the method of my Patent No. 2,054,217, one of the special fingers may be used for the elastic yarn of the selvage and while operative it will be kept in position II and not moved to the position III where it feeds to all the needles. If the finger I4 of Fig. 5 is used for this purpose, then a similar finger such as M may be used'for the inelastic yarn of the selvage. These fingers may be mounted on axes which are concentric with each other, by means of tubes which telescope inside one another, as shown for instance in Fig. 4. The finger H carrying the inelastic yarn for the selvage will first be moved to the interlacing position II in order that the yarn may be caught by the needles and immediately thereafter will be moved to position III where it feeds to all the needles. The non-elastic yarn in such a selvage may also be fed in accordance with the method of Figs. 1, 2 and 3 or the method of Fig. 8. The method of Fig. 7 would probably not be suitable for the purpose because the elastic yarn from the finger I4 continues to be fed from the interlacing position while the finger l4 carrying the inelastic yarn must be feeding to all the needles.

The present method of feeding yarn for striping purposes in the body of the hose can be carried out in accordance with the manipulations shown in any of the figures of the drawings. Thus when a striping yarn in finger l4, M or l4 has been interlaced by moving to interlacing position II, the yarn can be fed to all the needles either by stopping the needle selection in accordance with Fig. 7 and causing all the needles to be raised in time to have the yarn get under the hooks of all the needles, or the finger can be moved to feeding position III as in Figs. 1 and 4, or the finger can be moved to the idle position I of Fig. 8 and the cutter and clamp l2 left open. While it would be possible to performthe striping operations by using the cutting and clamping position for feeding as shown in Fig. 8, it would not be convenient to do so when more than one yarn is being used for striping, because the yarn or yarns not being used would have to be cutand clamped, thereby also cutting off yarn which was to be fed. For clamping the idle yarns where more than one is to be kept in the clamp at the same time, a series of clamps one below the other or the star type of clamp such as shown for instance in the patent to Collar 1,883,337, dated Oct. 18, 1932, may be used.

Many other modifications of my invention which do not depart from my basic idea will occur to those skilled in the art.

I claim 1. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of interlacing the yarn with a series of the needles at a point in advance of the knitting point for said needles and then feeding the yarn to the hooks of all needles.

2. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of moving the yarn finger close to the needles, interlacing the yarn with a series of the needles and changing the relation of the yarn-finger and needles to feed the yarn to the hooksof all needles.

3. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of raising selected needles, moving the yarn finger close to the needles to place the yarn against the selected needles, raising the intervening needles to interlace the yarn with the needles and feeding the yarn to the hooks of all needles.

4. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of raising selected needlesin advance of a yarn feeding position, moving the yarn finger close to the needles, raising the needles intermediate the selected needles subsequent to the yarn feeding position to interlace the yarn with the needles and changing the relation of yarn finger and needles to feed the yarn to the hooks of all needles.

5. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of moving a yarn finger close to the needles, interlacing the yarn with a number of the needles and moving the yarn finger from the needles to a'position feeding the yarn to the hooks of the needles.

6. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of moving a yarn finger close to the needles, interlacing the yarn with a number of the needles below the latches thereof. and moving the yarn finger to a position feeding the yarn to the hooks of all needles.

7. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of raising selected needles, moving the yarn finger close to the needles to place the yarn under the hooks of the selected needles, raising the intervening needles to interlace the yarn with the needles and moving the yarn finger to feed the yarn to the hooks of all needles.

8. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of moving a yarn finger close to the needles, interlacing the yarn with a number of the needles and moving the yarn finger outwardly to a position feeding the yarn above the latches of all needles.

9. In a method of. presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of moving a yarn finger to a position close to the needles at a point in'advance of the knitting point, interlacing the yarn with a number of needles during a single revolution of the needle cylinder, moving said yarn finger outwardly with respect to the needles to a position feeding the yarn to the hooks of all needles.

10. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of raising a number of spaced needles in advance of the finger feeding the yarn to be pre sented, moving the yarn finger close to the needles at the height of the clamp holding the yarn end and at a distance therefrom to en-' gage the yarn with the raised needles only, raising the intervening needles to interlace the yarn with the previously raised and. intervening needles during a portion of a single revolution of the needle cylinder, releasing the yarn from the clamp, moving the yarn fingeraway from the needles to a position in which the yarn engages all needles after being raised and in a position to be taken into the hooks thereof.

11. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of moving a yarn finger close to the needles at 7 a point in advance of the knitting point, interlacing the yarn with a number of the needles during a single revolution of the needle. cylinder while the yarn is still clamped, withdrawing the yarn from the clamp and moving the yarn finger outwardly from the needles to feed the yarn to the hooks of all the needles.

12. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of raising selected spaced needles prior to passing the yarn finger position, moving the yarn finger close to the needles to place the yarn extending between the yarn finger and a yarn clamp mechanism against the raised needles, raising the needles between the raised needles after passing the yarn finger to interlace the yarn with the needles during a portion of one revolution of theneedle cylinder, rotating the yarn finger outwardly to a position in which the yarn engages the latches of all needles after the needles are raised and operating'the needles to take and knit the yarn.

13. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine the steps of moving a yarn finger close to the needles at a point in advance of the knitting point, interlacing the yarn with a number of needles during a single revolution of the needle cylinder, moving the yarn finger in an inclined plane and in the direction of movement of the needles to a feeding point further removed from the needles and at a' higher elevation and feeding the yarn to the hooks of all needles;

14. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of raising spaced selected needles prior to passing the yarn finger position, moving the yarn finger close to the needles to place the yarn against the shanks of the raised needles and below the latches thereof, raising the intermediate needles after passing the yarn finger to interlace the yarn with a number of needles during a portion of one revolution of the needle cylinder, moving the yarn finger outwardly and upwardly to engage the yarn against the latches of all needles after they are raised and operating the needles to take and knit the yarn.

15. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of raising a plurality of spaced needles in advance of the yarn finger, moving the yarn finger close to the needles to place the yarn extending between the yarn finger and a clamp mechanism against the shanks of the raised needles and below the latches thereof, raising the needles intervening between the raised needles to interlace the yarn with the needles, withdrawing the yarn from the clamp mechanism when interlaced with the needles and moving the yarn finger upwardly and away from the needles to a position feeding the yarn to the hooks of the needles.

16. In a method of presenting yarn to the needles of a circular knitting machine, the steps of moving the yarn finger close to the needle circle, raising selected needles in advance of the yarn finger to place the yarn in the hooks thereof, raising the intervening needles after passing the yarn finger to interlace the yarn with the needles and raising all needles in advance of the yarn finger to place the yarn in the hooks thereof.

JAMES L. GETAZ. 

